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REMONSTRANCE. 



COLUMBIA, S. C: 

PHCENIX BOOK AND JOB POWER PEESS 

1868. 



Be 



THE RESPECTFUL REMONSTRANCE, 



ON BEHALF OP 



THE WHITE PEOPLE OF SOL^TH UUUU 

AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION OF THE LATE CON- 
VENTION OF THAT STATE, NOW SUBMITTED 

TO CONGRESS FOR RATIFICATION. 



To the Honorable the Senate and muse of R^premitatli>,s of the 
United States, in Congress assembled: 

The undersigned respectfully sheweth, that a Constitution fraught 
with evil to the State, and to all classes of the people thereof, is about 
to be submitted to your honorable body for ratification Before 
your honorable body shall set upon that instrument the seal of youi- 
approval, and thus consummate upon a proud and faithful people a 
p-eat and irreparable wrong, we respectfully ask a hearing at your 
hanas, whilst with a due sense of our responsibility to God ard to 
truth, we submit for your consideration the grave objections that 
may be urged against the proposed fundamental law for this State 
And first, permit us to lay before your honorable body the following 
analysis of the said Constitution, prepared by the Hon. B. F. Perry 
of this State— a pure man, an able lawyer, and a hfe-long, bold and 
out-spoken Unionist. As a man who opposed nullification and seces- 
sion you will, perhaps, not regard him as one whose views on the 
Constitution are apt to be peiwaded by that disunion spirit which 



.^^2f 



many members of your lionorable body might deem sufficient to 
prejudice any paper emanating from South Carohna. Mr. Perry 
thus states the most prominent objections to be urged against the 
Constitution of the Eeconstruction Convention of this State: 

"Article I. — Section 19 — Of the Declaration of Rights, gives Jus- 
tices of Peace jurisdiction of all offences, less than felony, and in 
which the punishment does not exceed a fine of $100, or imprison- 
ment for thirty days. This is a gross invasion of that boast and 
bulwark of Anglo-Saxon liberty, the trial by juiy. Any one may be 
arrested and 'tried summarily,' before a Justice of the Peace, or 
other officer, authorized by law, on information under oath, without 
indictment or intervention of a Grand Jury." Can anything be 
more despotic or alarming, than the power of an ignorant, \dcious 
negro Justice to fine and imprison any and every man in the State? 

"Sec. 24 — Enables the Legislature to authorize and empower any 
one, a poHce or military officer, to suspend the laws of the State, or 
the execution of the laws! The Constitution of the United States 
limits the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus by Congress, even 
to cases of rebellion or invasion. But here the whole laws of the 
State, in time of peace, may be suspended by some vrorthless minion, 
authorized by the Legislature. 

"Sec. 25 — Authorizes the General Assembly to subject any one to 
martial lav/, or to the pains and penalties of martial law, whenever 
they think proper. This infamous power is given the Legislature 
under the guise, too, of protecting personal rights. It seems to 
have been suggested by the minority of the Supreme Court's dis- 
senting opinion in Milligan's case. They held that Congress could 
authorize the trial of a citizen by a military court. The framers of 
this Constitution did not intend to leave the legislative power 
doubtful in this particular. 

"Sec 28 — Clearly and distinctly empowers and authorizes the 
Legislature to keep up and maintain a standing army in time of 
peace ! This alarming power is given, too, most adroitly, under the 
pretence, that armies being dangerous to liberty, ought not to be 
maintained in time of peace 'without the consent of the General 
Assembly!' The purpose of this section is to enable the Legislature 
to keep up a regular force of five or ten thousand negro soldiers, to 
suppress and keep in subjection the white race, after the United 
States forces are removed from South Carolina ! The Constitution 



of the United States especially prohibits any State 'keeping troops 
or ships of war in time of peace.' But this Constitution declares it 
may be done with the consent of the Legislature! 

"Sec. 2 of Art. 4— Provides that the Judges of the Supreme Court 
shall be elected for six years, and section 13 of the same article or- 
dains that Circuit Judges shall hold their office for 'a term of four 
years.' This destroys the independence of the Judiciary, and 
makes them pohtical partizans, with all the temptations and corrup- 
tions of politicians. In order to secure their re-election, they must 
become subservient to the Legislature, by whom they are to be re- 
elected. They will not dare to decide an Act of the Legislature 
unconstitutional, nor will they venture to oppose their judicial 
opinions to any popular current which may be sweeping over the 
State. Whilst the Judges of England were in commission during 
the pleasure of the Crown, they were always a tyrant's menials. 
Heretofore the Judiciary of this State, elected for life, have always 
been above reproach, and their ermine has never been sulhed with 
a stain of suspicion. Henceforth the Judiciary of South Carolina 
will be corrupt and subservient. 

"Sec. 22— Gives Justices of the Peace jurisdiction in cases of 
bastardy and all contracts and torts as high as $100. This will 
open the flood-gates of litigation and keep the peoj^le in constant 
excitement and commotion. Pettifoggers will spring up all over 
the State to disturb the peace and quiet of the community. Igno- 
rance and prejudice will l^e sitting in judgment on the rights and 
liberties of the people. 

"Sec. 26— Denies the Judges the right of charging juries in respect 
to matters of facts ! In most cases tried in our courts, it is ab- 
solutely necessary for the Judge to analyze the facts, in order for 
the juries to properly understand them and give a correct verdict. 
This will be more imperative hereafter, when our former slaves 
shall be sitting on these juries. In a compHcated ci^-il case, before 
a stupid, ignorant jury, under this restriction, the trial by jury will 
be a mockery of justice. 

"Sec 33 — Takes from the Legislature all discretion as to the 
adoption of the proposed amendment of the Federal Constitution, 
disfi-anchising the people of South Carohna. This amend- 
ment, repudiated by Ohio, California, New Jersey and even 
Massachusetts, was submitted by Congress to the several State 
Legislatures for their adoption or rejection, as to them should seem 



proper. Tliey were to judge of its merits and decide for them- 
selves. But this section swears them before-hand to adopt it, 
whether wise or unwise, just or unjust ! 

"Sec. 24 — Declares null and void all contracts for the purchase of 
slaves, in violation of the Constitution of the United States, which 
declares that no State shall pass any law impairing the obligation 
of contracts. This section was intended as a fraud and deception, 
a bribe, to induce the peoi)le, owing such debts, to vote for the Con- 
stitution. It is a nullity, and will be so declared by the Federal 
Courts. But this will be after the cheat has had ics eiiects and 
iccomplished its purpose. 

":Sec. 2 of Art. 8 — Enfranchises every male negro over the age of 
twenty- one, whether a convict, felon or a pauper, and disfranchises 
every white man who has held office in South Carolina. Intelligence, 
virtue and patriotism are to give place, in all elections, to ignorance, 
stupidity and vice. The superior race is to be made subservient to 
the inferior. Taxation and representation are no longer to be 
united. They v/lio own no property are to levy taxes, and make all 
appropriations. The property holders have to pay these taxes, 
without having any voice in levying them ! The consequences will 
bs, in effect, confiscation. The appropriations to support free 
schools for the education of negro children, for the support of old 
negroes in the poor houses, and the vicious in jails and penitentiary, 
together with a standing army of negro soldiers, will be crushing 
and utterly ruinous to the State. Every man's property t> ill have 

^ to be sold to i^ay his taxes. 

^^ "Sec. 8 — Expressly prohibits the Legislature passing any law de- 
priving a convict of larceny of the right of suffrage. It was 
apprehended that in a few years a large proportion of the negro 
voters might be convicted of larceny, and the radical party thereby 
shorn of their strength in all elections. But is it not most shame- 
ful, that in forming a Constitution, care should be taken to prevent 
rogues from being disfranchised, whilst the same caution is exer- 
cised to exclude the most intelligent, virtuous and patriotic from 
the right of suffrage ! It would seem that the purpose of the 
framers of this Constitution v^as to found a community of rogues 
and paupers in South Carolina ! And so astute have they been in 
carrying out their purpose, that they provide in section 12, that all 
who have already been convicted of felom^ shall be allowed to vote. 
ySsc. 2 of Art. 9 — Prohibits the Legislature from levying a poll 



tax of more than one dollar on eacli person, and declares that this 
tax shall be applied exclusively to the public school fund ! And no 
additional poll tax shall be levied by any municipal coq^oration. 
In other words, the property must pay all the taxes of the Govern- 
ment, and persons shall pay nothing for their protection of hfe and 
liberty. The idea is that vagrants and rogues are to be a sort of 
noblesse, exempt from taxation, as was the case of the aristocracy in 
France previous to the Frencji Eevolution. In order to secure the 
school fund, section 15 authorizes the Legislature to punish those 
who may embezzle it, by declaring them disquahfied for holding 
any office of honor or emolument in this State. But, then, true to 
their purpose of vesting all political power in the hands of such 
persons, it pro^ddes in the same section, that the General Assembly, 
'by a two-thirds vote, may remove the disability wpon i^ayment in 
full of the princip)al and interest of the sum embezzled.' If a man 
has stolen money from the public, he may still hold office under the 
Government, if he will 'give up like a gentleman,' the money 
stolen ! 

"Sec. 16 — Provides that no debt contracted by this State in behalf "; 
of the late rebelHon, in whole or in part, shall ever be paid. Why 
should the non-property holding negioes, Yankees and Southern 
renegades in the Convention prohibit the property holder from pay- 
ing these debts, if they see proper to do so, and preserve untarnished 
the honor of their State. This war debt was contracted with 
honest creditors, many of them widows and orphans, and why should 
it not be j)aid ? The property holders, who assembled in Conven- 
tion in 1865, and who would have to jjay this debt, never thought of 
repudiating it. -^ 

''Sec. 3 of Art. 10 — Estabhshes a uniform system of free public 
schools throughout the State, and provides for the division of the 
State into school districts. This will do very well in New England, 
where they have a dense population, but is wholly unsuited to the 
sparse population of South Carolina. In many of the school dis- 
tricts, four miles square, there will not be a child to be educated. 
In a majority of them there will not be children enough to make a 
respectable school. The expense of such a system will be at least 
$1,000,000. It contemplates and forces the education of the white '^ 
and black children in the same school. This, no one, who has any 
regard for the morals, manners and future resj^ectability of his 
children, will tolerate. They who are able may employ private 



8 

tutors for their sons and daughters; but the poor childi-en will have 
no alternative but to go to these schools, or be uneducated. 

"Sec. 4 — Makes it compulsory for all children between the ages of 
six and sixteen to attend school for two years. The compulsory 
system ma}^ suit the genius of a desj)otic Government like Prussia, 
but is at war with the spirit of our free institutions. There are 
• many parents who are not able to spare the services of their children 
at home, and many others who are not in a condition to furnish 
their children with suitable clothes and books for their attendance 
at these schools. At least a parent should be permitted, in a free 
Republican country, to govern his own household and determine 
for himself what is l^est for him to do. In order to support these 
schools, a poll tax of one dollar per head is to be levied, which 
might raise $100,000. This would leave $900,000 to be paid by 
taxation of property. 

"Sec. 8 — Provides for the establishment of State reform schools 
for juvenile offenders. This is a new system to be introduced in 
South Carolina, and of very doubtful policy. It vrill certainly add 
hundreds of thousands of dollars to our taxation. All the public 
schools, colleges and universities in the State are, by section 10, to be 
free and open to all the children, without regard to race or color. 
'. There seems to be a studied desire throughout all the provisions of 
this most infamous Constitution, to degrade the white race and 
elevate the black race, to fprce upon us social as well as political 
iGqualit}', and bring about an amalgamation of races. 

"Sec. 5 of Art. 11 — Forces each County to provide for the support 
of the aged, infirm and unfortunate. It does not require children 
to support their aged, infirm or unfortunate parents, nor parents to 
provide for their children; but this heavy and most enormous 
burden is to be thrown on the public and provided for by taxation. 

"Heretofore South Carolina has pursued a wise policy in refusing 
ail divorces. The marriage contract is not like that of any other, 
which the parties may rescind at pleasure, without injury to society. 
There is a third party — innocent and helpless children — who are 
deeply interested in all divorces. Moreover, it tends to demoralize 
every community where it is allowed or tolerated. But section 4 
gives the courts j^ower to grant divorces. This sectioii was in- 
tended, perhaps, for the esx^ecial benefit of the negroes. It ought 
also to have legalized polygamy, which has likewise great favor with 
this class of people. 



9 



"The settlement of a wife's property, provided for in section 8, 
might have been left to the discretion and wisdom of the Legisla- 
ture. It is an experiment, and if found mischievous or unwise, the 
Legislature ought to have the power of changing or altering the 
law. But this ordinary act of legislation has been incorporated in 
the Constitution as a fundamental law, not to be repealed. 

"Attached to this Constitution, are several ordinances, and amongst 
them one which repudiates all pledges of faith and credit, on the 
part of the State, to any corporation or private individual, made 
since 18G0. The honor and credit of South Carolina, her good faith 
and most solemn pledges, are thus treated as of no consideration 
whatever. But this ordinance is on a par with that dishonor, 
despotism, and unscrupulous extravagance, which pervade the whole 
Constitution, and are worthy of the infamous source whence the 
instrument has it origin. 

"The ordinance to create a Board of Land Commissioners, 
authorizes the purchase of lands for the purpose of seUing them out 
in small tracts to purchasers on credit. This wild and ruinous 
scheme is, likewise, for the negroes, and is likely to benefit^ no one, 
except the land commissioners and their friends. State stocks are 
to be issued for the purpose of purchasing these lands. They may 
be sold, but the purchasers will never pay for them, and the loss 
will ultimately fail upon the State. Did any one ever before hear 
of so many effective provisions for squandering pubhc money, when 
the whole State, and all the people in it, are reduced to Ixankrnptcy 

and poverty?" 

Thus has it been shown, in the above analysis, how injuriously 
this Constitution must affect the interests of the white man, and 
how inconsistent it must prove with the peace and prosperity of the 
State. But, in addition to this, the Committee beUeve that it can 
be shown that the said Constitution is not the less injurious to the 
very class— to wit: the black people— whom it seemed most especially 
to have been designed to benefit. On this point, the Committee ask 
leave to invite attention to the comments of the Hon. A. Burt, one 
of the ablest la^vyers of the State, and a man of the highest charac- 
ter, and of well known pohtical conservatism. The following is his 
language on the subject of the provisions of the new Constitution, 
which confer the power of taxation: 



10 

'•An analysis of the provisions of the new Constitution, which con- 
fer the power of taxation, I have not a doubt, will assure any candid 
mind that no people on this continent can endure the burdens which 
it imposes. The principle which pervades that entire instrument is 
that all taxation, except for a single purpose, shall be imposed upon 
real estate and upon the income from the sale of merchandize. In 
estimating the inequahty of taxation, we cannot omit the fact of the 
great diversity between the tw^o races which inhabit the State. At 
this moment the taxable property is held by one race, and under 
that Constitution the political power is vested exclusively in the 
other. Not only are the ordinary appropriations for the civil service 
of the State imposed upon the property held by the smaller number, 
but the other race, as a race, is at the present moment entirely 
exemi3t from any taxation, except for the support of public schools. 
A very large number of the race which own the taxable property are 
disfranchised — cannot vote, and cannot even hold the humblest 
office created by that Constitution; w^hile all others, without refer- 
ence to property, to educational qualification, to past citizenship, or 
any other qualification, are allowed to vote. Need I say that this is 
a condition of things w^iich the world never before witnessed! Your 
ancestors proclaimed a sentiment which has thrilled through every 
American heart, reached to distant countries, and been incorporated 
into their constitutions and laws. It is this, that taxation without 
representation is tyranny. ,Now, not only is a large class of pro- 
perty-holders in South Carolina disqualified to vote or hold office, 
but those who may vote or hold office are not required to have any 
property qualification or to know a letter of the alphabet, as many 
of them will not know. I say that a more arrant and infamous 
spoliation of a class was never designed by any country on the face 
of the earth. 

''Now, what must be the consequences? Pro]3erty under forms of 
law, in the guise of taxation, will be transferred from the hands of 
those who now possess it to others. It is inevitable. The holders 
of taxable property in South Carolina cannot to-day, and will not 
hereafter, be able to pay the taxes imposed upon them. 

"Many of you are able to form some reasonable conjecture as to 
the number of paupers who will assert their claims upon the charit}^ 
and sympathy of the State. You have already had some experience 
with reference to one race, and I am persuaded you will not have 
the slightest difficulty in making your calculations. Not even a 



11 

negro fjithcr, son or husljand, is required to contribute a dolLir 
towards the support of the paupers of his race." 

He next addresses himself more especially to tlie colored nian, 
and remarks: 

"If there be an}' colored man who intends to be industrious, fiiigal 
and moral— to elevate himself and family — to that man I desire to 
say one w^ord : Let him acquire real estate and learn to read and 
write, so that he may be placed in the category of the white man 
who owns taxable property, and if I am not totally mistaken in the 
opinion I have derived from successful and critical examination of 
the new Constitution, he will be unable to retain his property three 
years. It vrill be taken from him by those of his own race who are 
idle, thriftless, and do not mean to work. Hence it is that I call 
upon all respectable colored men, who entertain hopes of future 
prosj^erity, to denounce that Constitution and join his natural, 
ancient and true friends in opposing its ratilicatio]i." 

Next, after exposing the deceptive features in the Constitution 
proposed on the subject of the homestead claim, and the annulling 
of all debts of which slavery were the consideration, and after some 
comments upon the dangerous organization of the judicial power of 
the State, he concludes thus: 

"In my judgment, a Constitution Vvith such enormities in it will 
prove fatal to both races, and more fatal to the black than to the 
white. The -colored man who has acquired property has really 
more interest in preventing that Constitution from becoming the 
fundamental law of the State than you have, and I trust he will not 
allow himself to be deluded by those who would make him believe 
that it is his interest to oppose the people who have reared and nur- 
tured him through life. So cumbrous and complicated is the 
machinery of that Constitution, consisting, as it does, of the most 
minute details, and so burdensome will be the government which it 
inaugurates, that you will be crushed by it. You" cannot bear it. 
As well might the heavy harness of the mailed v\^arrior be put upon 
the limbs of an infant, as for these burdens to be imposed upon the 
impoverished people of South Carolina. None but a people rich 
and highly educated can live under that Constitutic-n. Try it if you 
will, but I tell you, gentlemen, that antagonism will be excited 



12 

between the two races, and conflict may be tlie result. Under it 
peace and harmony are utterly impossible in South Carolina." 

We have thus suggested to your honorable body some of the pro- 
minent o'ojections to your adoption of this Constitution. We waive 
all argument upon the subject of its validity. It is a Constitution 
de facto, and that is the ground upon which we approach your 
honorable bod}^ in the spirit of earnest remonstrance. That Consti- 
y^tution was the work of Northern adventurers, Southern renegades 
and ignorant negroes. Not one per centum of the white popula- 
tion of the State approves it, and not two per centum of the negroes 
who voted for its adoption i^iawi any more "than-^ -^og^-horse, -^i' A^ 
'CaVwhat his act of voting implied. That Constitution enfranchises 
every male negro over the age of twenty-one, and disfranchises 
many of the purest and best white men of the State. The negro 
being in a large numerical majorit}^ as compared with the whites, 
the effect is that the new Constitution establishes in this State negi-o^ 
supremacy, wdth all its train of countless evils. A superior race — a 
portion, Senators and Eepresentatives, of the same proud race to 
vv^hich it is your pride to belong^ — is put under the rule of an inferior 
race — the abject slaves of yesterday, the Hushed freedmen of to-day. 
And think you that there can be any just, lasting reconstruction on 
this basis? The Committee respectfully reply, in behalf of their 
white fellow-citizens, that this cannot be. We do not mean to 
tiireaten resistance by .arms. But the wdiite peoj^le of our 
State will never quietly submit to negro rule. We may have 
to pass under the yoke you have authorized, but by moral 
agencies, by political organization, by every peaceful means left us, 
we will keep up this contest until we have regained the heritage of 
political control handed down to us by an honored ancestry. This 
is a duty we owe to the land that is ours, to the graves that it con- 
tains, and to the race of which you and we are alike members — the 
proud Caucasian race, wdiose sovereignty on earth God has ordained, 
and they themselves have illustrated on the most brilliant pages of 
\ the world's history. 

Nor, Senators and Representatives, does tli,e State of South Caro- 
lina merit, at your hands, the political treatment that has been 
meted out to her without stint-. 



It is true, South Carolina took the field promptly, in the late war 
between the States. Her people embarked their all in the struggle, 
because the sovereignty of the State demanded this of them. But 
when the war ended, and the arbitrament to which they resorted 
was adverse to their cause, no people ever yielded more gracefully 
to the decree of Providence. Quietly they laid down their arms, and, 
in peace, they became law-abiding, as, in war, they had been faith- 
ful to their flag. They accepted the legitimate results of the war. 
They were ready to abandon the claim of the right of their State 
peaceably to secede from the Union, and they assented, in Conven- 
tion assembled, to the emancipation of their slaves. And now, were 
the State admitted into the Union, on a just and reasonable basis, 
we hesitate not to declare that again would our people greet the 
starry banner of the Union, and unite with their fellow-citizens of 
the whole country in the effort to promote the glory, wealth and 
prosperity of our common land. 

In our relations, as proposed, by us, with the black people of this 
State, we are not disposed to exact anything that just men may 
deny or Heaven .disapprove. 

When South Carolina assented to the act of Federal emancipa- 
tion, we hold that the freed people became members of the body 
pohtic, and, as such, entitled to all the civil rights that are enjoyed 
alike by all classes of the people. They became entitled to ' life, 
liberty and the pursuit of ha2::^piness" — to all that the Declaration 
of American Independence and the English 3Iagna Charta claim for 
man as his inalienable rights. But as it regards suffrage, we hold 
that this is not a political right nor a civil one for man, either white 
or black, but it is a triiM, a delicate trust, to be conferred by the State 
upon the people thereof, according to considerations of expediency, 
and agreeably to the sound political doctrine of the greatest good 
to the greatest number. ' ^ 

With respect, now, to the extension of this trust to the colored 
people, we believe that nine-tenths of our people are willing to con- 
cede it to them, duly qualified: We cannot admit universal suffrage, 
l^ecause the great body of the colored people are utterly unfitted to 
exercise it with intelligence and discretion; and because it would 
make the negro dominant, and thus bring about a fatal antagonism 
between the races. We cannot deny it altogether to the black man, 
because that would be neither right nor pohtic. Hence the policy 
of the mean between the two extremes, which has met with 



14 

general favor in this State. The conservative party of South Caro- 
lina now stands and gathers strength, day after day, upon this pro- 
position. The Convention of the party lately passed the following 
resolution : 

''Resolved, That under the action of the State of South Carolina, 
heretofore taken, we recognize the colored population of the State 
as an integral element of the body politic; and, as such, in person 
and property, entitled to a full and equal protection under the State 
Constitution and laws. And that as citizens of South Carolina, we 
declare our willingness, when we have the power, to grant them, 
under proper qualifications as to property and inteUigence, the 
right of suffrage." 

In behalf at least of the Democratic party of South Carolina, 
which embraces nearly every white inhabitant, and many of the 
colored people, the Committee declare that this policy represents the 
political sentiment of the State. We offer this in good faith, as the 
basis of a true, a genuine and lasting reconstruction. This, we 
earnestly believe, is the peaceful solution of the great question of 
white man and black man in the South. This sohition we offer to 
the conservatism of the country, as one alike advantageous to 
both races. Let this be accepted; let the vexed question of the 
black man be removed from the high court of the land, and let all 
of our people North, South, East and West, be permitted harmo- 
niously and earnestly to addi'ess themselves to the great work of 
individual improvement and national aggrandizement — then again 
may we expect a return of the better days of the Repubhc, and a 
restoration of the Union in fact as well as in niime. 

WADE HAMPTON, 
JOHN P. THOMAS, 
JOSEPH DANIEL POPE, 
F. W. McMASTER, 
SAMUEL McGOWAN, 
W. M. SHANNON, 
State Central Executive Committee. 






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